49
"Well then" Owen said softly as he crouched to look over the baby, "Healthy little bugger, he's what … four… five months?"
"Five" the woman said softly, glancing at her partner, "Was a twin. The other one didn't make it. Leroy was our last chance. We ... twice I failed."
Ianto heard the sorrow and desperation as she ached to snatch her child back and looked at his own healthy boy, the others waiting at home and felt a deep sorrow that out in the Real World there was such suffering.
Maybe it was their penance.
Jack was in their ear, telling them he was landing at Holdfast and wanted to come see so Ianto rose and went outside to tell him which cabin they were at. He also felt Hope's desire to come see and since Dean was already here he knew that if she didn't get a look she would hold it against him. Also, having to cut the recon short like this and missing out on the night away meant she needed handling. Jack said he would wait and bring her once the teams were all signed off so Ianto went back in and smiled as he watched the woman breastfeed the baby now, Dean leaning in with the rattle.
"I was gonna give this to Pip but he would probably use it to smash someone's nose when big enough. He doesn't like being babied. Here, you have it Lee" he said as he tucked the rattle into the blanket and she smiled down at him.
"Lovely boy, thank you" she crooned.
"Dean. Dadda and Hope will be here soon, would you like to go meet them on the road to bring them down?" Ianto said and Dean grunted, then took off out the door yelling over his shoulder, "What about Frank?"
"Not yet love" Ianto called back and then settled again, "sorry. My husband and our daughter are coming to meet you with some more supplies, they have not seen any others for a while."
"We've not for… months. As I said, we thought there were no more." The man sighed, "Elton. I'm Elton, of course Leroy here. And my ..ah…."
"Wife" Ianto said softly, "A ring or piece of paper does not make any stronger or weaker. She is your mate."
"Wife" Elton smiled, "Jenna."
"Dean had been promised a night away, I think finding a baby has been a netter trade" Ianto smiled, "My daughter might be a bit…ah…standoffish. She is older, not as innocent as him."
"Not many are innocent these days" Elton agreed sadly, "We reap what we sow."
Ianto was surprised to hear his own thoughts come back to him and he nodded again as he hoped this little family might make it, even as it meant they were going to get closer to the 100 mark he feared.
Capacity.
Ianto sat and calculated the living arrangements, the need for more houses and sighed as he rubbed at his face. It was time for plan D.
"Plan D?"
Ianto turned to find Hope in the doorway, her arms full of diapers, "What do you mean Taddy?"
"Holdfast was plan A. Stronghold Plan B. Fallback Plan C. I need a D" he explained, "Stop reading my thoughts young lady, that's rude."
"Why?" she asked as she placed the things down and the woman watched the little girl turn to face her father as a full grown woman would, her head held high in question.
"Too many souls in one place, to easy a mark for those who might attack be it Zs or human. We need a third split to keep the numbers down." Ianto explained.
"We all fit down below"
"Yes love, but we don't all fit up" Ianto sighed, Dean entering with Jack who filled the doorway imposingly.
"Taddy, you sound silly" she sighed as she smiled and leaned in to sniff the baby, "some can just settle down. Some night be happy to live down. We need to discuss it and ask if some want to build down permanently. Some might. If we can get twenty or so to accept down permanently it means we can keep building and expanding down there."
Ianto regarded her "OK love. You want to call a meeting of the Elders and discuss this?"
"Yes Taddy. I think so. I think some will want to, we need not keep spreading topside. I think we need to look down, like you always said. We need to be ready to pull into ourselves. Winter is coming and it may last for over a year. We need to have things ready for a world of ice again. Eighteen months? Twenty four?"
"I agree" Jack said as he turned to one side to let Dean lean out and yell, then Jack cursed as he watched Frank emerge from the SUV, "What the hell. I said no! You hid in the back?"
"Don't be a turd. He wanted to see the bubba" Dean said as he led the weevil in and Elton froze with horror as the large creature now almost the size of a twelve year old entered to look at the baby in his wife's arms.
"This is Frank, he's an alien people that live underground back in London and stuff. He is my best friend and one day we will be married and stuff. He likes babies" Dean said calmly, "See? Cute eh?"
Frank crooned, a claw reaching out to gently stroke the tiny cheek and then swing to click and grunt, then Dean laughed.
"No silly. He's a boy. They wear that colour too" Dean chortled, "Peppermint is a …like… anyone colour. Like purple for Raven. He's a Leroy. Cool name huh?"
"Lee"
"Yeah, I called him that too." Dean said as his arm slid around the weevil's waist to lean against him, "He looks like a Lee. We will all be great friends."
"Yeah"
Elton took a seat with a thud as the monster spoke.
He wondered if that dented can of peaches had been off and this was some hallucination or something. Food poisoning can do that, right?
